BOSTON - Lawmakers moved Wednesday to restore nearly $100 million in spending vetoed from the state budget by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, including funds for full-day kindergarten programs and for the University of Massachusetts system.

URBANA, Illinois - The University of Illinois is suspending its annual merit-based salary increase program until the state budget impasse is settled, Champaign-Urbana campus president Timothy Killeen said.

WASHINGTON - A GOP-controlled Senate panel has voted to lift a decades-long ban on travel to Cuba, giving a boost to President Barack Obama's moves to ease travel restrictions and open up relations with the Castro-governed nation.

WASHINGTON - A GOP-controlled Senate panel has voted to lift a decades-long ban on travel to Cuba, giving a boost to President Barack Obama's moves to ease travel restrictions and open up relations with the Castro-governed nation.

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans are trying to use a must-do spending bill to advance legislation significantly revising a landmark law that tightened regulation of the financial services industry after the 2008 financial crisis.

AUSTIN, Texas - Line-items vetoes made by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are being questioned by state budget officials, who said Tuesday that the new Republican governor appeared to cut spending in ways that are beyond his constitutional power.